We are Tree Guys

[wbpdeer]

This thread is for the Tree Guys to introduce their bio to others. I will go first.

I grow trees from Containers in a grow box starting in January.
I have direct seeded enough to learn how to - just not good at it yet.
I plant bare root. I have planted cuttings.
Types: Chinese Chestnuts, Sawtooth, DCO, AC with more types to try

Hope to Graft Persimmon.
I live on the TN / KY state line in Zone 7a. Winters are mild compared to most states.

I distribute Chinese Chestnuts to habitat people that want to grow them or direct seed them. I have a greenhouse coming on line - will learn a great deal about that thru hands on.

wbpdeer@att.net

 

[Merle Hawggard]

Let's see Wayne,
I grow in containers and direct seed.
I've successfully grafted apples, pears, pecan, and hickory.
I plan on adding walnut, oak, and persimmon this fall.
I'm trying very hard to get my own chestnut grove going so I can enjoy it with my family.
I'm always happy to share scion wood or just whatever I have that could help out with anyone else's goals.
My property is about 75 miles away from me, close to the arkmo state line.

 

[dogdoc]

I don't think I consider Myself a tree guy. I suck at tree ID. I know the difference between a red oak and a white oak and that's about it. I'm always amazed when someone post an oak leaf and so many if you guys can just ID the type of oak.

But, I have started hundred of trees from seed: persimmon, pawpaw, apple, pear, oak, plum, and chestnuts. I have successfully grown mullberry trees from green wood cuttings.

I have grafted over a hundred persimmon trees - converting them to fruit producing trees with drop times that I want. I have grafted many pear and apple seedlings. I have also planted seedlings started in RM 32's and 18's. Planted bare root trees both ordered from nurseries and seeds I started in my flower garden at home and many potted trees.

I can plant a tree and tube pretty darn quick (at least when I have 2 good shoulders) and I can also get a tree planted and caged a lot faster then I did 4 years ago.

My only regrets with trees is that I wish I would have started planting trees 12 years ago when I bought my place.

Todd

 

[wbpdeer]

Dogdoc

You are a tree guy!

I am not good at tree ID either. But I am going to be able to know who has chestnuts across almost 30 states. You are dog guy but a tree guy too.

 

[Diamond hunter]

Trial and error have been my greatest teacher,along with forums like this one. I read Paul Knox stuff and go from there.Ive only owned my farm 5 years and I am 47 so I hope I can get to see my son shoot a buck under one of Wayne's chestnuts one day.Maybe a swamp white,any of them really,I just hope to look at my farm in 30 years and walk around and be proud of the start I gave my boy.I love growing bee trees Ive learned cause you can see the bees work them then eat the honey they produce,and the bees help all the trees and its a big cycle.Mother nature is still the boss.

 

[Native Hunter]

I'm a tree grower.
Several years ago I converted an old 12 acre pasture to trees. I planned it out so that I could have small fruit and nut trees that would continue to get sunlight when my climax trees like oaks and pines matured. It was also planned with road screening in mind.

Right now I have:
20 or more pears producing fruit with more young ones coming on.
20 or more apples and crabapples producing fruit with more young ones coming on.
20 or more Chinese Chestnuts and Dunstans producing nuts with more young ones coming on.
15 or more persimmons producing fruit with more young ones coming on. Also have some very mature persimmons that have been there a long time.
Lots of different miscellaneous fruit and nuts like hazelnuts, plums, Paw Paw, serviceberries, cherries, etc....

The oaks and pines I planted are over 25+ feet tall and I saw pollen on some of the oaks this year.

I manage a mature 20 acre forest for cover and mast trees. It is 75% various oaks.

I got into grafting this spring. I had great luck with apples and some luck with persimmons. Unfortunately some of my persimmon grafts got broke off in a storm.

I'm in the process of expanding the fruit and nuts to a different spot on the farm. This started in the spring of 2014. It looks like I should have more fruit at that place next year.

I add a few trees every year now and give a lot of attention to picking varieties the have high disease resistance. I also give a lot of attention to drop times. I want drop times that cover as much time in the year as possible, but plant trees that drop in hunting season in the most visible places from the stands I hunt.

This stuff is fun, and did I mention I like to eat the fruit I plant just as much as the deer.

Yep, I'm a tree guy......................

 

[PecanArcher]

I have pecans. About 800 trees or so over about 50 acres. I didn't start the orchard but have certainly learned a lot in the last 4 years of managing them. They range from from newly planted trees, newly grafted trees, to 15 year old mature trees.


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[ncstewart]

Well not sure I'm a Tree Guy yet but maybe one day. This was my first year growing and I have learned a lot.

Grew Chinese chestnuts, Allegheny chinquapins, Sawtooth oaks, in root maker 18's and then transplanted to 1 gal root pouches that I'll plant in Sept.

Will be grafting some persimmons this spring for the first time.
Also wanting to try and graft Ozark chinquapins to Chinese rootstock.
Will also be growing apples, pears, pecans from seed for root stock.




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[Familytradition]

I've grown trees for as long as I can remember. I grew peaches, apples, and maples in my sandbox as a kid. I grew up hunting a 360 acre tree farm. I learned a lot about trees then; the owner had a forest degree from Purdue. I've grown oaks in containers ever since I bought my house 10 years ago. I will graft now that I have enough trees to mess with. Oaks, apples, and chestnuts are my favorites. Peaches, persimmons, and pears are my newest interests. I would love to start a paw paw patch. Bushy nuts are another new interest; I've had a terrible time with hazelnuts here in central Indiana. If I could have one of every native tree on my land I would. I even thought about selling everything I own and buying an orchard in Wisconsin once.

 

[Fish]

My name is Fish and i have a tree problem.

I planted a 10 acre cornfield when we built our home there 10 years ago. Every March i made a trek to the state nursery and picked up 100 count sacks of seedlings to plant on the property. I planted the following: pines, oaks, river birch, sycamore, sweet gum, persimmon, black locust, crabapple, silky dogwood, gray dogwood, bayberry, hazelnut, ninebark, and welll, you get the picture. At this point, i am releasing quality oaks from the junk. The black locust are a pain to manage. I love them for firewood, but even with herbicide on the stump, they sprout everywhere.

I bought 40 acres 3 years ago and have planted oround 1500 trees and shrubs there.

Currently, i am growing many species in fabric pots. I also have trees growing in a garden bed for moving out in the spring.

I collect seed from parking lots and from my own property now. It's a passion.

 

[wbpdeer]

Fish,

You fit in good with this group. We are tree guys.

 

[lakngolf]

Here are 1000 words

 

[Fish]

Fish,

You fit in good with this group. We are tree guys.

Thanks, Wbpdeer. I could have used this group for moral support many years ago.
I think the thread is a great idea and we should show pics of what those trees look like years down the road. Inspiration for guys new to planting "sticks" as my wife used to call them.

My property was known as the jungle in the town coffee shop those first years after planting.

 

[Turkey Creek]

I am a tree guy in a prairie state! Yes we do have trees, but the vast majority of trees where I live are found along water sources, unless they were planted by man. I cringe every time I pass a fresh dozer pile on a field edge. Sadly people forget (or take for granted) how long it takes for a seed/acorn to become a towering tree. Planted my first wind break when I was probably 10 years old. Took a tractor and stock tank on a trailer and watered them diligently the first couple of summers. That same wind break now shelters my brother's house. In recent history started out growing a few Dolgo crabapple seedlings just for wildlife food and now have a small nursery business from it. Bench grafted around a 1,000 fruit trees this spring and hope to someday hit the 10,000/ yr mark. My primary focus has been apples and pears that shine for the deer habitat builders, but have expanded into the home orchard market especially with the stone fruits. I have dabbled with a few other trees such as chestnuts, hazlenuts, and oaks. Have grown in pots and now plant almost exclusively in my nursery as it works best for me.

 

[Brushpile]

I planted 2000 seedlings a year from 2008-2013, and then slowed down to 1000 a year. I also plant 1000s of cuttings and graft Persimmon and apple. Locals call me "The tree man". Directions to my property start with, "Do you know where that guy planted all those trees? If I don't mention trees and start giving directions to my house, people say, "Oh you're the guy who planted all those trees'! LOL I've planted:

Dozens of pears, multiple varieties.
100's of apples and crabapples
Over a dozen Dunstan Chestnuts
a few dozen Chinese Chestnuts
Swamp White Oak, Chinkapin Oak, Bur Oak, Shumard Oak, Pin Oak, Shingle Oak, Sawtooth Oak, Dwarf Chinkapin Oak, Concordia Oak...
Then there's specialty plants like Strawberry Bush, Eastern Wahoo, Sequin, and Allegheny Chinkapin.
White Pine, Loblolly Pine, Loblolly x Pitch Pine and Eastern Red Cedar.
Brush like Arrowwood, various dogwoods, Ninebark, American Wild Plum, Mexican Plum, Chokeberry, Chokecherry, Elderberry... too many for one post.
If a plant makes good deer habitat, I've probably planted it and will detail it in my property thread, "The Brushpile".

 

[wbpdeer]

Brush,

I sure am glad you posted on this thread. You sir are the master tree guy. I always remember your photo of the pasture ground you began with back when.

 

[mattpatt]

I'm a retiring tree guy. Don't plan to grow near as many as I have in the past. May pick it back up at some point. My new goal is to try and keep everything I've planted alive. But If I feel I have knowledge to add to the group I will be happy to share. My focus is mainly on chestnut varieties which some have proven somewhat successful here in NE Texas heat. I've also been planted oak species that are drought tolerant. Only time will tell if any of them will make it.

Matt

 

[CAS_HNTR]

I am also a "tree guy"....I grow between 200-300 a year and typically have a pretty good variety of oaks, chestnuts, paw paw, plum, apple, pear, permission, etc. My goal was to get ALOT of planting done ASAP on our property such that I could then focus on other more short term projects. I have done pretty well, but still expect to plant a few hundred a year for a few more years to get to where I want to be!

Wealth of info on here already. My final thought for tree growers that want to start out.......try chestnuts and sawtooths first.....DONT start on paw paws and DCOs!!

 

[dogdoc]

Cas, why do u not like paw paws?

I planted about 10 trees that started from seed at home. Very slow growing tree. They are all at the farm now in tree tubes. I don't plan on planting anymore and next year will be my last year with trees. Kinda burned out on trees right no . I have about 50 at home that require watering every other day. About 30 of them are apple and pears that will be grafted next year then planted the following spring.

I think if I do more apples and pears I will just plant rootstock then field graft when they are ready.

 

[CAS_HNTR]

Cas, why do u not like paw paws?

Not that I don't like them, but I have learned to hate growing them compared to others due to their slow nature. Planting them after stratification and having to wait for MONTHS before they show top growth is worse than watching paint dry!